Novel

In one of Pentagon’s hotels, Kristina was looking down from a window in a luxurious top-floor suite as the whole city below her was dyed white. Although the people of the city had been confused by the unannounced snowfall, everyone was now out on the streets, enjoying the surprise event.

“I really want to see what a snowball fight is like,” Raimira muttered from her seat on a large sofa.

Sitting across from her, Mer glared down at the cards spread out in front of Raimira and hissed, “You can have as many snowball fights as you like afterward.”

“Snow never fell at the Dragon-Demon Castle,” Raimira continued to mutter. “Ever since this Lady was born, I have never once seen it snow.”

“If you really want to see it, you can just look out the window, can’t you?” Mer impatiently recommended.

“This Lady cannot be satisfied with just seeing the snow from here,” Raimira insisted. “I wish to have a snowball fight.”

Mer sighed, “Hah, really now, if you want to do it, then just go down there on your own and have a go at it.”

Raimira retorted, “Where’s the fun in trying to have a snowball fight by myself? Mer, this Lady wants to have a snowball fight with you.”

“Sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t do that. Sir Eugene and Lady Sienna might be returning any moment now,” Mer grumbled as she slowly stretched her hand toward the cards laid out in front of Raimira. “Why don’t you tell me where you put the joker?”

“I don’t know why you’re expecting this Lady to reveal something like that,” Raimira sniffed.

“It’s because I don’t want to pick the joker,” Mer honestly replied.

The two had been focussing on their card game for a while now. In fact, Mer would also prefer to go out with Raimira and have a snowball fight or build a snowman instead of staying in this room and playing cards or fidgeting by herself. However, like she had just said, Mer felt there was no way she could go outside right now, especially with all her anticipation. The sun was slowly starting to set. Eugene and Sienna might be back at any moment.

Mer wanted to wait patiently in this room so that she could welcome Sienna and Eugene once they were back. Although having a snowball fight or building a snowman with Raimira might be fun, if she allowed herself to get too absorbed in those sorts of activities, wouldn’t her best clothes that she had specially prepared become drenched by the snow?

“You never know. They might not be back today,” Kristina, who had been looking out of the window, suddenly spoke up.

It was actually Anise.

“Hmm, indeed. Since they finally had a proper reunion after hundreds of years, they’ll have so much to talk about that even spending an entire night together might not be enough for them,” Mer voiced her agreement with a nod as she drew one of Raimira’s cards.

It was the joker.

“‘So much to talk about’ hmm… well, I’m sure there’ll be some talking,” Anise muttered with a sullen expression as she plopped down on the sofa in front of the window.

She guessed that communicating with your body[1] was one way to have a conversation.

[Sister!] Kristina protested.

Anise scoffed, ‘What are you freaking out about? It’s not like they’re children. Technically speaking, Sienna is three hundred years old.’

[Please refrain from picturing something so shameless. Your outrageous imagination is making me terribly embarrassed, Sister,] Kristina complained.

‘Kristina. You might say that, but I know full well that you quite enjoy such wild fantasies,’ Anise accused.

Kristina whined, [Please, Sister. Please don’t insult me with such absurd claims.]

‘You might lie with your words, but your body at least is honest,’ Anise thought with a snort as she opened a bottle of whiskey that had been placed on top of a table.

Glug glug glug.

Anise poured the whiskey into a large glass until it was just on the brink of overflowing when Kristina let out a short groan.

“Stop with the nagging and just look the other way for a bit, Kristina. If I don’t drink on a day like today, when else can I drink?” Anise said as she raised her glass up to the now-lightening snowfall.

Anise had thought that she would be fine with this, that it wouldn’t mean anything much to her. But now that it was actually happening, she didn’t feel so good.

“I would have never guessed that I could be such a greedy woman,” Anise muttered as she brought her wineglass to her lips.

Kristina also couldn’t help but let out a short sigh at these words.

Greed, hmm, so this was greed? As a Saint and a priest, Kristina felt that she shouldn’t be allowed to have such desires.

Sensing Kristina’s feelings, Anise held back a wry smile as she persuaded Kristina, ‘Since we’re only human, in the end, we can’t help but feel such things. Where in the world could you find someone truly devoid of all desires and emotions?’

However, if you solely listened to your desires and emotions, you would turn from a human into a beast.

This was similar to the current Anise and Kristina as they patiently waited in the room, drinking by themselves, as they took on the chore of babysitting these two ancient brats who were now screeching and pulling at each other’s hair. Still, Anise and Kristina forced themselves to persevere because they were human, not beasts.

‘Sienna has definitely mustered up all of her determination. I let my guard down since there weren’t any fireworks planned for this city, but I never imagined that she would actually make it snow,’ Anise thought regretfully.

Kristina tried to think optimistically, [I don’t think snow is all that special. After all, didn’t we and Sir Eugene see so much snow in Ruhr that we got tired of it?]

‘The snow that we saw then and the snow that’s falling now hold very different meanings,’ Anise argued. ‘First of all, right now, aren’t Eugene and Sienna watching this snowfall alone? Also, this isn’t like the heavy blizzards that crazily bombarded us when we were in Ruhr; this light sprinkling of snow actually looks quite pretty.’

Kristina tried to defend her point, [No matter how you look at it, it’s still the same snow—]

But Anise angrily cut her off, ‘No, it’s not the same. As someone from this era, can’t you tell such a simple thing? After three hundred years, a man and a woman have finally been reunited properly! They look at each other as the white snow heavily falls around them!’

Kristina stuttered, [H-however, Lady Sienna is the one who called down this snow….]

Anise sighed, ‘Yes, I never would have imagined that Sienna could think up such an elaborate and cunning plan. Think about it carefully, Kristina. What happens when you get caught in the snow?’

Kristina didn’t know what was the right answer to such a seemingly obvious question. So she didn’t put too much thought into it and just replied with whatever came to mind.

[If you get caught in the snow… your clothes will get wet. Your body will also grow cold…,] Kristina slowly answered.

‘That’s right!’ Anise declared. ‘Whether you’re a human or a beast, you’ll get wet when you’re out in the snow. The air is cold, and when the wind blows, it feels even colder. You might even catch a cold if you get too chilly while wearing wet clothes.’

[Th-that’s… a cold isn’t an illness that should be taken lightly…,] Kristina thought as her inner voice began to shake.

Ever so slowly, Kristina was beginning to notice what Anise was trying to get at.ViiSiit n𝒐velb𝒊/n(.)c/(𝒐)m for l𝒂test 𝒏𝒐vels

Anise grew increasingly agitated as she spoke, ‘If your protective covering is wet and you’re feeling cold, then whether you’re a human or an animal, you would do your best to get out of that situation! That means you would need to find some warmth and heat! One way to do that is to get out of the wind and into a nice hot room. Then you remove your wet clothes and do something to heat up your body! And what difference is there between people who’ve taken off their clothes and beasts who walk around naked?!’

Crack!

The wine glass in Anise’s hand shattered.

[Shameless, how shameless!] Kristina screamed inside their head, unable to hold it in any longer.

When Anise shattered the glass in her bare hands, and her shoulders began to tremble, Mer and Raimira, who had been fighting and pulling at each other’s hair while accusing each other of cheating by secretly swapping the cards around, began to cling to each other instead as they shook in fear.

The closed door of the room suddenly burst open. Anise, who hadn’t even had time to think about cleaning her hand that was drenched with wine, turned her head towards it. The door had been locked, of course, and only Anise and Eugene had the key to their rooms.

“Hmm?” Anise hummed curiously.

With half of his face swollen painfully, Eugene was the one who had opened the door and was now entering the room. It wasn’t just his cheek that was swollen. The area around his eye was also bruised, and his lips were cracked.

When it came to methods of violence, Anise was an expert. She easily guessed what kind of attack was the reason for Eugene’s face being so messed up.

It had to have been an immensely strong slap to his left cheek. A palm, which had a wider area than a fist, had impacted the whole left side of his face.

“Benefactor[2]!” Raimira screamed.

After Eugene had pulled her out of Raizakia’s stomach, Raimira had taken to calling Eugene her benefactor.

“Sir Eugene!” Mer also let out a surprised scream at the same time. “Lady Sienna!”

Her screams quickly turned from alarm to joy. This was because Sienna had just followed the slump-shouldered Eugene into the room. Mer leaped up off the sofa and raced towards Sienna.

“It’s alright, it’s alright[3],” Sienna murmured as she looked down at Mer with loving eyes and stroked her head as Mer hugged Sienna’s waist.

Sienna then lifted her head slightly to look around the room.

A woman who looked alarmingly similar to Anise was rising from the sofa with a surprised expression. If Sienna was forced to pick out the differences, the only ones she noticed were in the shape of Kristina’s eyes and a teardrop mole. But the gaze transmitted from those wide eyes didn’t feel unfamiliar to her.

Sienna cautiously asked, “Anise?”

“...Sienna…,” Anise called out Sienna’s name in a trembling voice.

Sienna’s eyes were wet with tears. When she had called out Anise’s name, she also had to suppress a strong tremor in her voice.

In fact, just before she arrived here, Sienna had intended to pick faults with Anise. She had a big grievance against this cunning and snake-like woman who had taken advantage of a certain someone being half-dead and trapped inside a seal. No matter how much Sienna had thought about it, Anise’s actions had still felt cowardly and dishonest to her.

However, now that she was seeing Anise in person, with that expression on her face, and hearing her voice, let alone picking a fight, Sienna’s eyes were also welling up with tears.

“Aniseeee….”

“Siennaaaa….”

In the end, the two women burst out in tears as they called out each other’s names.

Sienna abruptly picked up Mer, who had still been hanging from her waist and walked past Eugene. Anise also stepped forward to meet her while wiping off the wine that had drenched her hand.

Sienna and Anise came to a momentary stop once they were in front of each other. Then, without anyone being able to tell who had initiated it first, they embraced each other tightly. Unable to escape in time, Mer was buried between Sienna and Anise.

Mer agonizingly struggled to escape the pressure that was bearing down on her from both sides, but Sienna and Anise didn’t pay any attention to her as they sobbed and embraced each other.

“You, are you really Anise?” Sienna asked.

“Yes, I am. The body might be different, but it’s really me,” Anise confirmed.

“It’s just like a dream… to be able to meet with the deceased you, like this, once more,” Sienna sobbed.

“It’s not a dream, Sienna,” Anise corrected her. “This is definitely a reality. If you had to say it, then you could call it a fortunate miracle bestowed upon us by God.”

Still stuck in between them, Mer’s struggles slowly began to die down.

Anise caressed Sienna’s cheeks with both hands as she smiled and said, “...I’m not the only one who surprisingly managed to return. You’ve also survived, and now I get to meet you like this. Even though hundreds of years have passed since we last met….”

Anise had just said what was on her mind without any other hidden intentions.

However, upon hearing these words, Sienna’s cheeks twitched.

“It’s true that hundreds of years may have passed, but my body is no different from how it was hundreds of years ago,” Sienna claimed.

“Huh?” Anise responded in confusion.

“I completely reconstructed my body using magic,” Sienna explained. “I’m in the prime of my life, with the same youthful appearance I have in your memories. Even though hundreds of years may have passed, that still means I haven’t aged at all.”

For a moment, Anise couldn’t understand what Sienna meant by these words and could only blink in confusion. But soon, Anise realized what Sienna was insinuating. A thin smile spread across Anise’s face as she nodded slowly.

“That’s right,” Anise agreed. “Unlike myself, who has died and lost my body, you still have your own body, Sienna.”

“It’s sad, but that’s just how it is,” Sienna said smugly.

Anise disagreed, “No, there’s no need to be sad about it. Because the body that I’m dwelling in now is almost exactly the same as the body that I had when I was alive. Also, this is a genuine twenty-three-year-old body that hasn’t had any need for magical reconstruction.”

“Twenty-three-years-old? So you’re older than Eugene,” Sienna pointed out.

“Now that you mention it, there is a two-year difference. But if you really had to classify it, we’re both in our early twenties,” Anise argued back.

“Is the body's age really that important when, at our core, we’re both hundreds of years old?” Sienna insisted.

“Don’t you think it’s strange to count the years when I was dead as part of my age?” Anise refuted. “Also, regardless of what’s at the core, I still think it’s better for the shell to not be hundreds of years old, don’t you?”

“Didn’t I say that I’ve magically reconstructed my body?” Sienna repeated herself impatiently.

Anise acted innocent, “Oh my, I didn’t mean to target you in particular when I said that, Sienna, but it seems I’ve poked a sore point?”

Sienna and Anise weren’t crying any longer. The two were now exchanging looks through narrowed eyes. They had just been embracing each other but soon parted as they both took a step back.

Flop!

Mer, who had been trapped in between them, sprawled on the ground.

“You cheeky bitch!” Sienna suddenly let out a scream as she grabbed Anise by the hair.

Not to be outdone, Anise also grabbed Sienna’s hair, “You ancient tree bitch!”

Sienna was undaunted, “How dare you get a headstart on me?! I-I’ve heard all about it! You stole Hamel’s — Eugene’s lips!”

“You’re not a child anymore, so why are you pulling on your friend’s hair just because she got a kiss in before you did?!” Anise yelped.

Sienna stammered, “It-it wasn’t just any kiss! I-I heard the whole story! When you stole Eugene’s lips, you stole his first kiss!”

Anise scoffed, “Could it be that you actually are a child? Don’t you know that that bastard Hamel was the type of guy who did everything and anything during his time as a mercenary!”

“Why should that matter?” Sienna stubbornly insisted. “Th-that’s all in his past life! Also, all mercenaries were like that! At least he never did that sort of thing once he met up with us! The past isn’t important; it’s the present! The vital fact of the matter is that you took the present Hamel’s first kiss!”

“Is the fact that it was Hamel’s first kiss really the only important thing to consider?! That was my first kiss too. And that means it was also the first kiss for the owner of this body, Kristina!” Anise confessed.

At these words, Sienna’s brows shot up. Then she even started using her other hand to pull on Anise’s hair.

“That means you all exchanged your first kisses together! I-I’m the only one who had hers stolen!” Sienna complained.

“Sto… len? Did you say that it was stolen?! Does that mean Hamel was the one who personally initiated the kiss?!” Anise’s eyes widened angrily as she also started grabbing onto Sienna’s hair with both hands.

“That’s right, it was stolen!” Sienna confirmed proudly. “Does that make you jealous? Hah!”

Anise sneered, “I’m not the slightest bit jealous! It’s better to steal a kiss than to have it stolen. That’s why I’m the one who did the stealing! Before you could!”

Sienna cursed, “Why don’t you just ascend[4] already, you ghost!”

“Shut your mouth. Your breath smells like rotten tree roots!” Anise yelled back.

Eugene slowly began edging closer to the two women who were still tearing at each other’s hair.

He hesitantly tried to intercede, “Um… no matter how angry you are, don’t you think you’re being too harsh with your words…?”

They both hissed angrily, “Whaaat?”

Eugene winced, “I mean, telling her to ‘ascend already,’ isn’t that a little—”

“Eugene! Are you really siding with Anise right in front of me?!” Sienna accused.

“Hold on, please, just listen until I’m done talking!” Eugene pleaded. “This goes for you, too, Anise. What you said to Sienna was far too rude. Sienna doesn’t smell of rotten tree roots at all.”

In the first place, what would tree roots even smell like?

Anise defended herself, “Sienna was the one who insulted me first! Sienna is also the one who started pulling on my hair first. Hamel, just think about it clearly. The hair that Sienna pulled out just now isn’t mine but Kristina’s. What crime has Kristina done to deserve such humiliation!”

[Sister, let’s make that Wicked Witch into a baldie,] Kristina responded to Anise’s anger with a bloodthirsty warcry.

“Stop, stop!” Eugene yelled, and he thrust his head between them as Anise and Sienna started tearing at each other’s hair again. “You don’t need to do this. Why don’t you just rip out my hair instead! Just take my life instead!”

“Fine, you son of a bitch! You’ve finally come up with a good idea,” Sienna growled, and as if she had just been waiting for the opportunity, she let go of Anise’s hair and started pulling on Eugene’s hair instead.

“Hamel! If you say something like that, do you really think I wouldn’t do it?” Anise screeched as she also immediately began to pull on Eugene’s hair.

Four hands started to simultaneously tear away patches of Eugene’s hair.

“Die, you crazy bastard!”

“You son of a bitch!”

Torn-off gray hair scattered across the ceiling. At this sight, Raimira curled into a ball on the sofa and began to shake in fear. Mer, who had regained consciousness at some point, seemed to have become enraged as well as she also started to pinch and bite Eugene’s leg.

While receiving this assault, Eugene didn’t put up any form of resistance. Instead, his expression seemed as peaceful as if he was just taking a walk under the warm sunlight.

‘That’s right, this is fine,’ Eugene thought.

After all, the torn-off hair would just grow back.

Ignoring the agony he could feel on his scalp, Eugene closed his eyes.